Monthly Archives: August 2009

According to an article on latimes.com: “A coalition of advocacy groups sent a letter to President Obama last week demanding that the administration end a program that allows local police to enforce federal immigration law.”

Ending the 287(g) program would be a wise move for several reasons.: (1) it encourages racial profiling and leaves room for abuse; (2) immigration law is federal and should be enforced by the federal authorities – we would not want the local police enforcing federal tax laws, immigration is no different; and (3) the concept of “community policing” that has proven effective over decades becomes more challenging as immigrants will be less likely to assist authorities in prosecuting and/or reporting serious crimes for fear of immigration consequences – in other words, a shift from working together to fight crime to an “us versus them” perspective becomes inevitable.

According to a DHS Press Release: “Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Secretary Janet Napolitano today announced new directives to enhance and clarify oversight for searches of computers and other electronic media at U.S. ports of entrya critical step designed to bolster the Departments efforts to combat transnational crime and terrorism while protecting privacy and civil liberties.”

According to a USCIS Press Release: “United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) would like to clarify to associations and their members certain regulatory requirements for filing petitions for H-2B classification on behalf of foreign workers. We are issuing this clarification so that the public can be better informed of filing requirements and avoid unnecessary denials of individual petitions that may be otherwise approvable. We have noticed a particular type of filing error in many H-2B petitions filed by certain associations on behalf of their members. Rather than file an individual petition with USCIS, some employers who are members of an association have sought H-2B non-agricultural workers via a master petition filed by their association.”

According to a USCIS Update: “Employers may use the Form I-9 with the revision date of either Aug. 7, 2009 or Feb. 2, 2009. The revision dates are located on the bottom right-hand portion of the form.”

According to an article on boston.com: “Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick announced this morning that 31,000 legal immigrants whose state-subsidized health insurance was set to expire this week have received a last-minute reprieve — although their coverage will not resume until October.”

According to a opinion piece by Thomas Maier on cnn.com: “[T]he Kennedys’ vision of ‘A Nation of Immigrants’ — which Ted championed throughout his public career — dramatically transformed today’s America, opening the door for millions of new citizens and paving the way for Barack Obama’s presidency. It is the Kennedys’ most lasting legacy.”

Health Care and Immigration Reforms were two areas that Senator Kennedy was passionate about and worked hard to achieve in recent years. One cannot help but wonder what the future will hold now that he has passed.

Edward Kennedy was known as the “Lion of the Senate”, he debated with great passion and championed what he perceived as solutions for the great issues facing our country. He had an ability to find common ground and achieve bi-partisan victories in the Senate. In addition to his recent support for immigration reform in a rough political climate, Senator Kennedy was responsible for improving the nation’s immigration system decades ago.

According to an article on usatoday.com: “In 1965, Kennedy had been in the Senate less than three years. His party’s leaders gave him the job of pushing a bill to eliminate the quota system that had made it virtually impossible for anyone from anywhere but western Europe to immigrate to the USA.”

When the great debates of our time take place in the US Congress, the Lion’s roar will be sorely missed.

According to a USCIS Update: “U. S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) has issued instructions on making inquiries with the agency’s four Service Centers. Customers, community-based organizations and liaison groups should follow this guidance when inquiring about case related issues. This new process standardizes customer service and streamlines processing of customer inquiries at USCIS Service Centers.”